Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will be performed through Dec. 20 at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts (263ARTS).Take one Biblical tale of devotion, hatred, lust and revenge. Add two parts Broadway music and dance. Toss in a group of energetic singers. Polish off with a solid band and you get Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Alaska Light Opera Theatre's excellent performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's sterling musical.

Despite a few sound and cueing problems, Thursday's show at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts was a success in every way

The plot of the Webber musical doesn't stray from the famous Bible tale of Joseph and his coat of many colors. The favorite son of Jacob, Joseph earns the envy and eventual wrath of his 11 brothers who sell him to an Egyptian and then tell Jacob he's dead. After a rocky start in Egypt involving illicit romance and a stint in jail, Joseph ends up the Pharaoh's second in command. It happens to be one of Genesis' most engrossing stories. Set the plot to music, with canny, adroit, sometimes hilarious lyrics and playful choreography, and the story can't help but entertain.

Julia Cossman, as the Narrator, keeps the thread of plot under control her high clear voice exuding a power over the characters she introduces, but with friendly affection. Woven into the fabric of her narrative are song and dance numbers performed by the rest of the cast.

These deftly choreographed routines were the delightful core of the show. The songs ranged all over the musical landscape: straight out pop, a touch of jazz, an unabashed western, a snatch of bump and grind, a hilarious Bohemian in Paris routine, a '60s gogo party. The surprising ease with which the cast moved from country to swing to rock kept the show from stuttering into a series of separate skits. The pacing was flawless.

Meanwhile, Joseph, now a slave in Egypt, runs into more trouble when his boss' wife takes a liking to him. They engage in a craftily choreographed dance, partly sexy, partly acrobatic (Joseph does a great back flip). Caught in a compromising position, he's sent off to jail.

His eventual run in with the Pharaoh provides the best sight gag of the evening, with Ed Bourgeois imitating Elvis, complete with pelvic thrusts, as he describes his dreams to Joseph in an "All Shook Up" kind of way.

This musical never falters. It moves deftly from number to number, the energy and enthusiasm of the performers carrying the audience nonstop to final heartwarming moments when Joseph is reunited with Jacob.

Michael Gruber plays Joseph with the right touch of innocence tinged with ego. You understand why his brothers want to get rid of him. In his finest moment, during "Any Dream Will Do," his voice radiates an entrancing warmth.

Director and choreographer Patti D'Beck has created dances that exude playfulness one moment and pathos the next. The result is a show that is easy to watch, goes by a little too quickly and leaves the audience smiling. Despite its deliciously adult underpinnings, it's a performance an entire family can enjoy.

The only thing detracting from ALOT's production was inadequate miking. Whenever the singers turned their backs on the audience, they couldn't be heard.

Sue Adair is a Daily News copy editor who plays acoustic guitar and has performed in several bands.

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